It is a story that began in West Yorkshire, and will reach its zenith on
Friday in Sydney, via a surprise phone call from Russell Crowe.

This Friday, the Burgess brothers from Dewsbury will take the field for the South Sydney Rabbitohs in their National Rugby League game against Wests Tigers. It will be the first time four brothers have played top-flight rugby in Australia for more than a century.

Luke, they say, is the bossy one. At 26, he is the oldest. Sam, next in line at 24, is the cheerful, carefree one. Then there are the identical twins, both 21. Tom is chatty. George is quieter. They look so similar that Rabbitohs coaching staff ordered one of them to shave their heads because they could not be told apart. George and Tom played rock-paper-scissors to decide who it would be. Tom lost.

But the one thing they share, besides a name, is an exceptional talent for rugby league.

“To have the four Burgess boys all together means it’s a massive day for the club,” Rabbitohs coach Michael Maguire said. “They’re an integral part of what we’re doing, along with everyone else.”

The Burgess brothers have all been at the club since the start of the year, but Luke’s injury and Sam’s suspension has prevented them from playing together until now. Sam was the first to arrive in 2010. George came later that year, followed by Luke in the summer of 2011. Tom signed at the start of the year.

Their mother Julie, a teacher and herself a former rugby league player, emigrated at Christmas and has found a job at a local boarding school. All four live within 15 minutes of each other and regularly eat together as a family.

Yet even though Julie will be at the Allianz Stadium to cheer on her boys, there will still be one Burgess missing. The boys’ father Mark, himself a capable front-rower for Dewsbury and Hunslet, died of motor neurone disease in 2007, aged only 45. All four were still in their teens at the time.

“It is something that you never, ever get over,” Luke said on Tuesday. “To lose your father at such a young age, it’s something you think you will never have to deal with. Especially the twins. They were far too young. They would have been 14, 15.”

“It had a different effect on each of us,” Sam said in an interview last year. “He was just clinging on. He couldn’t walk, he couldn’t talk. It got to a point when he had to try and write so we could communicate. It was a massive learning curve, but looking back it was the best period of my life: we had a great time.”

The speed with which the four were forced to grow up may have helped them adapt to the unfamiliar, unforgiving world of the NRL. Some have adjusted better than others. Sam has attracted criticism for his partying lifestyle, a reputation he appears not to be too perturbed about. (“I’m young and single, and I’m not bothered about saying it.”)

But then, the Rabbitohs are a more interesting club than most. Currently second in the table on points difference as they chase their first Premiership title since 1971, they are co-owned by Hollywood actor Crowe, who personally persuaded Sam to join the club after watching him playing on television while filming Robin Hood. Their name dates back to the turn of the 20th century, when players would earn extra money from selling rabbits on street corners.

The acquisition of the four brothers was initially dismissed as a publicity stunt, but in reality it appears to stem from a long-standing ambition to play together. “We have always been a close family,” Luke said.

“My dad brought us up to be really close, and we always looked after each other.” Now, they could scarcely be closer.